Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Monday demanded the end of U.S. "guardianship" of the Middle East.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Monday demanded the end of what he called U.S. "guardianship" of the Middle East. "There will not be peace in the Middle East as long as the United States is the guardian of peace. It is necessary to involve other countries in negotiations (between Israel and the Palestinians)," he said. Brazil has long volunteered to play such a role. Earlier this month it recognized Palestine as a sovereign, independent state within its borders prior to the 1967 Six-Day War. Lula also slammed economic sanctions imposed on Iran over Tehran's nuclear program, and emphasized that they could have been avoided if the United States had accepted a deal brokered with Iran by Brazil and Turkey. Lula recalled that before he travelled to Iran in May he got a letter from President Barack Obama with US "conditions" so that Tehran could avoid sanctions. Lula said these conditions were accepted by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, so sanctions were not in order. "The conditions that Ahmadinejad accepted were exactly the same as those proposed by Obama. In spite of that, countries on the UN Security Council decided to punish Iran. It was necessary to punish Iran because Brazil and Turkey got into ground that was not apt for emerging countries but was only reserved for the Security Council," Lula said. "Brazil does not have to ask permission to do what it thinks must be done," he said.Brazil: There Won’t be Mideast Peace Under US Guardianship
